Chapter Four: Of tickets and brothers (Mark's POV)
WAAH…I don't own Cheaper By The Dozen!
I glanced over my shoulder, as I have grown prone to doing so in the last five hours. As I figured, there was no one following me. Why should they follow me? I was just the loser of the family, the boy that FedEx probably could have dropped off without a single look back. It was doubtful that anyone even realized that I was missing. I turned my attention to the map. Yes, just as I expected, I only had a couple more miles to walk before I reached the airport. I had chosen an airport that was not in the immediate surroundings of Evanston, to throw off anyone who might be trying to follow me. I had stopped a few hours ago at a run-down store to buy some hair dye. I was in luck, because they had lots to choose from, and no security cameras that could record that I had been in there, just in case police came and asked. Luck must have really been with me, because the only employee that I saw was an elderly cashier who looked like their bifocal prescription needed serious updating.
After I had stopped in the store, I had seen a rest stop area and had used the shower area to use one of the hair dyes I had bought, a nice, normal dark brown. I had bought a couple others, just to throw off people. Now I was approaching the airport. I had my ticket already, it was a wonder that no one had asked for my identification, especially since I am a kid and also since we are living in a post-911 world. I had used a gift-card that works as a visa that I was sure that my family had forgotten that was given to me years ago by one of my aunts for a Christmas present to order the plane ticket.
I reached the airport and proceeded to try and look nonchalant as I walked into the building. I did not have to worry about baggage checking in, as I only was only bringing my backpack.
"Ok…where's gate B12," I muttered after breezing through security. "Ah…here it is! Um..thirty minutes until the plane boards." I took a seat and absent-mindedly stared at my ticket. Well it sort of was my ticket, I had paid for it, but I had used a different name than my own. I would now on be Justin Nathanial Mathews.
It was now six hours after I had left for freedom. I had purposefully chosen a late flight, in hopes of getting out of Illinois before day-light. "Children or passengers needing extra time to board may now board the plane!" interrupted my internal monologue and I stood up, stretched and walked over to the steward taking the tickets. "Here you go!" I said as she glanced up and took my ticket and I was ushered inside. I had not looked at the plane before boarding, but as I walked into it, I marveled at the hugeness of it. I had not expected it to be so big, as I did not pay a lot for the ticket. I found my seat, which was luckily in the back by a window, and plopped down. "Ok, phase one complete. When we land I can pick right back up on the map." I quietly whispered to myself, trying to break the silence. I was so far, the only passenger on the plane. Sheesh this quietness was driving me crazy. I had never been in a place that was as quiet as this plane was, especially not at home.
"Hi…what's your name?" I was suddenly jolted back into reality as a young boy, perhaps the age of Kyle and Nigel, popped up in front of me. He had red hair, kind of the same shade as mine used to be. "My name is Bryan Creamer and I am traveling with my older brother, he's ten. His name is Brendan Creamer!" Bryan jabbered on. "This is my first flight. How many flights have you been on?" He stopped to take a breath.
"My name is Mar-Justin…Justin Mathews. Where is your brother anyway?" I asked, grateful for the distraction from the deafening silence.
"He's in the in bathroom…he should be out soon…he's pretty weird. He remembered that he had not brushed his teeth before Dad dropped us off here, so he went to do that." Bryan stated with a look of five-year old annoyance.
I laughed. Bryan sounded so much like the twins…I missed them. Both sets, I mean. Nigel, Kyle and Kim and Jessica. I shook my head to dissolve the memories and smiled at Bryan as I searched for a magazine for kids in the stack in the back of the seat in front of me. Bingo. A nature magazine for kids.
"There's my brother now!" Bryan pointed towards the aisle. Sure enough a boy-I didn't have a clear view of him yet-was sauntering down the aisle towards Bryan. As he came closer, I had an eerie feeling that something was amiss. He finally reached the point where I could see him. "What in the world!..." I muttered, keeping my voice low so no one could hear me.